GLADE — One person was injured in an accident just before 8 a.m. Thursday in Phillips County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Toyota Corolla driven by Demetria Stevens, 29, Jennings, was eastbound on Kansas 9 Highway at Glade. The driver failed to stop at the posted sign at the intersection of U.S. 183, the KHP reported.
The Toyota struck the rear axle on the trailer of a northbound semi driven by Jacob McClelland, 19, Glade.
Stevens was transported to the hospital in Philipsburg. She stated she didn’t see the stop sign due to the rising sun. McClelland was not injured.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — The company that owns a duck boat that sank on a Missouri lake last year, killing 17 people , won’t operate the vessels this year and will instead open a replacement attraction in the tourist town of Branson.
First responders on the scene of the July 2018 lake accident -photo courtesy KYTV
Ripley Entertainment Suzanne Smagala-Potts announced plans for the new attraction, called Branson Top Op, on Thursday. She declined to comment on whether the boats would ever float again on Table Rock Lack, saying only that the company is focused on 2019 and hasn’t “looked in the future of what we may or may not do.”
The entertainment venue will include indoor laser tag and an interactive outdoor maze. It’s expected to open for Memorial Day weekend.
The company faces several lawsuits alleging that it launched the doomed boat despite warnings of severe weather.
Shares in the leadership and administration of the NAMI Hays Affiliate and is the point of contact for the public for information, referrals and support. The Center provides the meeting facility and houses the Affiliate’s reference library. Support for people with mental illness and their family and friends.
Glade resident Richard F. “Dick” Shields passed away Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at his home. He was 82.
He was born October 25, 1936 in Phillips County, Kansas the son of Orval and Fern (Keeten) Shields.
Dick was united in marriage to E. Arlene Miller on July 27, 1956 at Kensington, KS. She preceded him in death on March 18, 2010.
Survivors include an adopted son, J.W. Vandiever and wife, Gayle of Blanchard, OK; his sister, Roberta McCall of McPherson, KS; 2 step-grandchildren; and 6 step great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 25, 2019 in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg, with Pastor Ted Stapleton officiating. Burial will follow in the Marvin Cemetery, Glade, KS.
Dick will lie in state from Noon until 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 23 & 24, at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Johnson Cancer Research Center, Kansas State University c/o Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, 1115 2nd Street, Phillipsburg, KS 67661.
Judith Lynn “Judy” Kemp (Anderson) passed away unexpectedly on March 13, 2019, at the age of 73. Judy was currently living in Danberry at Inverness in Birmingham, AL.
Judy will be lovingly remembered by her daughter, Laurie (Craig) Cox and grandchildren: Reid Fehr, Kylie and Trent of Topeka KS; son, Dustin (Keri) Kemp and granddaughter, Isla of Birmingham AL; and son, Casey of Grandview MO. Judy will also be fondly remembered by her sister, Karen Johnson, of Leawood KS and her niece, nephews, and their families.
Judy was born on November 17, 1945, in Hays, KS to Hazel and Robert Anderson. She graduated from Hays High School in 1963. While growing up in Hays, she was involved in high school musicals and competition baton twirling. She was the 1962 Kansas for World Peace queen and competed in several other pageants while growing up in Hays, KS. After high school, she obtained a degree in Elementary Education from Fort Hays State University. Judy married William “Bill” Kemp, an elementary educator as well, in 1967. They moved to Kansas City, MO, where both Judy and Bill began working for the Hickman Mills School district as elementary school teachers and spent their entire careers with the district before they retired 2001. She taught kindergarten most of her career and loved the hundreds of “Kemp Kids” as her own. Judy took great pride in teaching her students to read. She especially loved writing and directing performances for her classrooms to take part in. Whether it was celebrating our country or Christmas, she always had a song and dance. After retirement, she and her husband traveled the world together, fulfilling lifelong dreams of seeing distant countries and experiencing different cultures. Judy could also be found spending countless afternoons at Longview Lake on her boat with friends and family. Judy enjoyed her backyard full of her favorite flowers and plants with her beloved dogs. Being a life-long resident of Kansas City, she cheered loudly for the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs and enjoyed going to games and tailgating with her family. She loved adventure and would seek out zip-line courses, hot-air-balloon trips, and helicopter tours during her travels. Judy was the life of family gatherings and she will be forever missed.
During the last year, she became a resident at Danberry at Inverness in Birmingham, AL where she found a new love of life. She made new friends and was enjoying new activities, while also getting to know her baby granddaughter, Isla. Judy found her beautiful smile and laugh again.
A service is scheduled for 10 am on Saturday, March 23 at Longview Funeral Home and Cemetery at 12700 SE Raytown Rd, Kansas City MO. The family will be there at 9 am for visitation and a reception is to follow at RCs in Martin City, MO. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Judy’s life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts be made to the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at UAB, c/o UAB Gift Records, AB1230, 1720 2nd Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0112, or by visiting https://www.uab.edu/give/now/
This past Wednesday started off pretty much like any other mid-March weekday, as I perused Twitter and Facebook, did some editing, and planned where I’d watch the Jayhawks play their first-round game in the NCCAA tournament.
Burdett Loomis, Professor, Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Science, University of Kansas
But then on my Twitter feed came a flurry of tweets: a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats was attempting to move Medicaid expansion onto the House floor, to pass Governor Kelly’s proposal. Whoa! For a legislative geek like me this was the equivalent of a potential miracle upset in first-round NCAA game. You can’t quite believe that the underdogs will pull it off, and you’ve got to keep watching.
So it went on Wednesday afternoon. Like many upsets, the real drama came early, as the insurgent forces leapt into an insurmountable lead in the early stages of the contest. As I watched on a YouTube channel, the House upstarts, led by Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore (D-Kansas City), stole the legislative ball from the Republican leadership with a “gut-and-go” maneuver, which substituted Medicaid expansion into another, slightly related bill.
Speaker Ron Ryckman (R-Olathe) and his fellow leaders, fresh from their raucous Topeka White Linen restaurant team-building exercise, sought a referees’ ruling that the amendment was not germane and that they should get the ball back, so as to win the game. The Rules Committee chair, appointed by the leaders (!) conveniently agreed with Speaker. Bill Self and Bruce Webber surely envied such a cozy arrangement.
Then came the real drama. Rep. Wolfe and teammates, without an actual coach, appealed this ruling. Right there, in the early afternoon, came the turning point. On a 62-55 vote the underdog challengers overturned the ruling and surged into the lead; after that, if this gritty band could maintain their majority on the floor, they could pass Medicaid expansion.
There is no shot clock in this legislative game, and the rest of the afternoon saw the favored leadership team desperately try to break apart the expansion coalition. After a lengthy half-time break, which allowed for some strategizing, the game continued in the late afternoon. The leadership Republicans desperately offered amendment after amendment: on costs, on abortion, on Planned Parenthood. Rep. Brenda Landwehr (R-Wichita), a wily veteran, played the point guard role, probing for weaknesses.
The insurgent coalition bent a bit, but their majority did not come close – not close – to breaking. After an hour or so of delaying tactics, the underdogs ran out the clock by simply holding onto the legislative ball. In the end, by a solid 70-55 margin, they prevailed on the bill, sending it to the next round in the Kansas Senate.
I’ve closely watched the Kansas Legislature for more than 30 years, and I can remember few more impressive performances. The challenging coalition did exactly what it needed to. It pounced on the loose ball of a broadly related bill, which opened the door to the “gut-and-go” maneuver. It then ran up a lead with a key vote on the germaneness rule, which allowed their efforts to proceed.
And then this group – which always knew it had the votes to win on the floor – beat back a series of amendments designed to kill the bill.
High drama and an impressive performance on a March afternoon. Of course, there will be another game in the Kansas Senate, where its conservative Republican leaders will once again seek to deny a majority what should be their rightful victory. But that’s another day’s contest. For now, we should savor the incredible performance we just witnessed.
Burdett Loomis is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Kansas.
Melvin A. Flegler, of Russell, Kansas, died on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the Vascular Center of Wichita Nephrology in Wichita, Kansas.
A celebration of Melvin’s life will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Monday, March 25, 2019, at St. John Lutheran Church in Russell, with Pastor Roger Dennis Officiating. Vistation will be from Noon to 8 P.M. on Sunday, March 24, 2019, at the mortuary, with family present to greet guests from 6 P.M. to 7 P.M. Sunday, evening.
Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Kansas, is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged scam aimed at registered offenders in Kansas.
According to a media release from the sheriff’s department, registered offenders reported receiving calls from a person posing as a deputy from the sheriff’s department. The caller claims the offender is not in compliance and urges the offender to send money to pay the fines or bond.
The Montgomery County sheriff reminded the public they do not call offenders or anyone to collect money. Investigators are working to learn the identity of the callers and bring them to justice, according to the release.
Anyone who receives a similar call should hang just hang up. If you received a call, the sheriff’s office wants you to contact law enforcement.
Six Monarchs were awarded medals at the Kansas Scholastic State Chess Tournament, held at the Emporia State University Student Union. In the K-12 (High School) Section of 147 entrants, freshman Nicklas Helget scored four of a possible 6 points to claim 32nd Place.
Five of the eight members of the junior high team earned medals in the 216 player K-8 Section. Caden Becker led the team with 5 of a possible 6 points and a 10th place finish. Achieving 4 points were Jensen Brull (32nd Place), Tate Dinkel (40th Place), Braydon Binder (53rd Place) and Jacob Mader (54th Place). Also competing were Adrian Normandin (3.5 points), Henry Meitner (3.0 points) and Jadyn Zimmerman (3.0 points).
The junior high team tallied 17.0 points to finish fifth behind Harmony Middle School of Overland Park (20.0 points), Washburn Rural Middle School of Topeka (17.5 points), Lawrence Southwest Middle School (17.5 points) and St Mary’s Academy of St. Mary’s Kansas (17.0 points). Team scores combine the top four individual scores for a team and are supplemented by a tiebreak system based on the scores of opponents faced in the tournament. All schools, regardless of size, compete in the same K-8 section.
The state tournament normally marks the end of the chess year, but on account of a January weather postponement, the Kansas Grade Championship remains on the schedule for April 6. This tournament draws entrants from schools statewide and is organized so that each competitor plays only against others of their own year in school. TMP-Marian is expected to have entries in the 7th, 8th and 9th grade sections of that tournament.
The young Monarchs have shown significant growth throughout the year and would like to thank all who have supported the team.
“We are ready to welcome the students who choose chess as part of their 2019-2020 experience at TMP-Marian,” said Coach Randy Brull.
MANHATTAN — Michael Dorst has been named the new principal of Manhattan High School. He has served as an assistant principal at MHS since 2008. Prior to that, he was the high school principal in West Franklin USD 287, and started his career as a physical education, math, health and wood shop teacher in Osawatomie.
He holds a B.A. from Bethany College and an M.A. from Baker University. Dorst is completing his District Leadership endorsement from Fort Hays State University this spring.
“I’ve been fortunate to be part of Manhattan High School for the past 11 years,” Dorst said. “I am honored to have this opportunity and I look forward to working with our amazing students, staff, families and community in our continued growth as a great school.”
Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade said Dorst has extensive high school administrative experience and a solid understanding of how current topics in education have relevance for the continued success of MHS and our students.
“I am confident there will be a smooth transition in leadership from Mr. Hoyt to Mr. Dorst. We are fortunate that both are respected professionals who have already demonstrated consistent dedication to the students, staff, families and everyone associated with Manhattan High School,” he said.
Dorst will begin his new position on July 1. Current Manhattan High School Principal Greg Hoyt announced his retirement during the fall of 2018.
Help the Hays Larks kick off the season Mon., April 15, 5-8 p.m., by joining us at Thirsty’s, 2704 Vine, for a Thirsty burger, hot dogs, fries and all the fixin’s including tea and water.
Chat with the coaches about the upcoming season and support your Hays Larks!
Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance at Phaze 2, Meckenstock Group or Arnett Chiropractic Care.
